True Love Waits novel Chapter 452

Eager to go, Elmer refused to listen to them. He stood up and made his way to the door. "I'm sorry I really have to go. Hey, next time I'm buying..." His voice trailed off as he reached the exit. The door was pushed open from the outside. Everyone was surprised as the newcomer walked in. "M-m-Mr. Huo?" Elmer stuttered.

They looked at Debbie, who was just as stunned as they were, and then all of them stood up and walked toward Carlos.

"Hurry. Mr. Huo is here," Mr. Li urged the others. "Good evening, Mr. Huo," they greeted Carlos in unison.

Carlos inclined his head slightly and cast Elmer a sidelong glance. "Where are you off to, Mr. Xue?"

"Er...n-nowhere. I... Mr. Huo, this way please," Elmer replied. Since Carlos was here, he realized that he couldn't leave now, so he put on his biggest smile and led Carlos to the table.

Slippery as an eel, he had already regained his composure before they even reached the table. Smiling at Debbie, he asked, "Debbie, why didn't you tell us Mr. Huo would be joining us? We should have waited till he got here."

"That's okay," Carlos said before Debbie spoke. A waiter brought in another chair. "There," Carlos said to the waiter, pointing at the spot next to Debbie. The waiter left the room after placing the chair where he was directed and setting another place at the table, complete with utensils.

'Way to be obvious, old man, ' Debbie thought resignedly.

The guests all gaped at what Carlos had just done.

To break the awkward silence, Mr. Li picked up a bottle of liquor from the table and walked up to Carlos. "Mr. Huo! So glad to see you. Let's have a drink," he said as he filled Carlos' glass.

Another guest echoed, "Right. We're all happy to see you." Then he turned to the waiter and said, "More salads for Mr. Huo. And hot dishes too."

Debbie just sat there, and watched it all unfold.

Originally, this was a thank-you dinner from her. But Carlos instantly became the center of attention. Everyone was fawning over him, and now the reason for throwing this shindig was overshadowed by the cold man's presence.

Debbie watched and was confused and conflicted by the whole thing. Just then, Frankie walked in with four bottles of alcohol in his hands. He put them on the table as a grand gesture and smiled at Elmer. "Mr. Xue, Mr. Huo heard that you had great taste in alcohol, so he asked me to bring these. They are of exquisite vintage, and are from some of the best years of these distilleries. You can't buy them anywhere else in the market."

Elmer looked at the exquisitely packaged alcohol and felt an urge to cry. He just sat there in stunned silence till someone nudged him. It was only then that he managed one of the most stilted smiles before saying, "Really? I'm so honored. Thank you, Mr. Huo. Bottoms up."

Debbie didn't understand what Carlos was doing.

She wanted to ask him, but she felt too embarrassed to ask with so many people present.

At the table, Carlos barely said a word. Most of the time he just sat there listening to the others talk about business, which was normal for him. He was known to listen more than talk. The one thing seemed weird was that he kept asking the waiter to fill Elmer's glass.

It baffled everyone except Elmer himself. He got it the moment Frankie came with the alcohol—Carlos was getting his revenge for the time Elmer tried to stick Debbie with a multi-million-dollar bill for alcohol. Revenge is a dish best served cold—or in this case, chilled to perfection. And Carlos could be very cold indeed.

Debbie didn't realize it until Carlos brought up the contracts between ZL Group and Elmer's company.

Directly and indirectly, Carlos was saying that Elmer had made a lot of money doing business with ZL Group. So Elmer, sweating bullets, finally came out with, "Dinner's on me. Everybody, enjoy."

"Thank you, Mr. Xue." Again, Carlos spoke before Debbie did.